Wyvern Tails and Phoenix Feathers

The Daughters, Chapter 5 - Eloise

In the early hours of the morning, Eloise traveled with Revelyn and Bryn to the district of Hedgemont called The Black Ward. It was easy to see how the district earned its name, as every old stone building was painted in a coat of char. The ward survived a massive fire nearly a century before Eloise's birth. Its residents wore the history like a badge of honor; a community of survivors.

Bryn's eyes were wide as they walked, in awe of Hedgemont's sprawling scale. It was truly an expansive city, dwarfing Port Shorishal three times over. Eloise had not seen a settlement in Einalia quite as grand. Perhaps because the Dread Wyvern toppled the isle's ancient cities and forced them to be rebuilt.

A blackbird fluttered from beneath an archway and found a new perch on a rusty signpost. Eloise investigated the creature as she walked, as though she had the ability to properly identify Grael in any form the changeling took. The truth was that Grael could be anywhere at any given time, a fact that Eloise found unsettling despite Grael's assurance that they weren't a spy.

In addition to a map detailing the location of the legendary golems, Grael provided a lead on the champion chosen by Vesper Slarve, the one Eloise was to battle in her father's stead. The selected warrior called The Black Ward his home and trained daily in the ruins of an abandoned grain store. But that was all Eloise knew upfront.

"Are you going to speak to Vesper's Champion, or simply size him up?" asked Bryn.

Eloise hadn't thought that far. She wanted to see what she was up against and assess the situation from there.

"If he's a reasonable man, we could perhaps talk him out of the fight," said Revelyn.

"He's likely honor-bound to the contest or some other asinine reason that inhibits any ability to think for himself," Eloise grumbled. Her boots scraped against the weathered stone street that steeply declined towards the ocean.

As they closed in on the abandoned grain store, they were greeted by exhausted grunting and the sound of metal against wood. There was a wrought iron fence on the right side of the sloping street that overlooked a makeshift training pit. There were several wooden targets set up along the curved back wall. Two older women were present. The grunting woman wielded a bladed whip and buckler shield. Her hair was cropped short and her trained muscles were visible beneath her dark scarred flesh.

The second woman sat in the shade of a burlap awning, cross-legged and weaving an orange striped floor mat. She was more delicate than the first woman and wore her hair in three successive buns down her scalp. Eloise felt silly for assuming Vesper Slarve would choose a male combatant as his champion. She had spent too much time in Iron Fen, she decided; a woman trained in weaponry ought not to be so unusual.

The weaving woman noticed Eloise, Bryn, and Revelyn first. She called to the training woman, who coiled her whip and wiped her brow. She shaded her eyes to look up at the visitors standing above.

"Are you Lord Glass's daughter?" asked the woman

"I am," said Eloise.

"I figured you'd find me," she said. She spat. "Some in Hedgemont have a short memory, but I remember you. He sent you away as a girl. I'm surprised you'd fight for him after all this time."

"I wasn't given much of a choice," said Eloise.

"Those with true skill are rarely afforded the power of choice. Could you imagine a woman like you or I holding power? We would be unstoppable."

Eloise kept her eyes on the woman and strolled further along the fence until she found a gated entrance.

"What's your name?" she asked.